If you know of Rosarito, you know what the area has to offer for tourists: beaches, nightlife, surfing, and other activities for the entire family. What you may not know is that Rosarito, a town of 55,000 just south of San Diego, is home to Baja Studios, a state-of-the-art motion picture studio where well known movies have been filmed (i.e. Titanic). And, even better, it offers Xploration, a movie theme park where visitors come to discover all areas of the movie production process.
Xploration offers exciting activities for anyone who enjoys movies, is curious about the movie making process, or is just looking for a day of fun. Currently, the park offers a Xmen Exhibit, Titantic Museum, Old-fashioned Film Lab, Amphitheater with live performances and an ocean view, Manhattan Street movie set, plenty of photo opportunities and more!
Not only is Xploration a fun learning experience, but admission costs much less than, say, visiting Universal Studios in California (admission is $100 and up for all ages vs. $9 for children/$12 for adults at Xploration). Take a ride from Southern California for the day and have dinner in town before going home or make Xploration part of a weeklong vacation.
While Xploration is easy to find, if you prefer to take a bus to the park, there are pick-ups before the Mexican border as well as at the last trolley stop in Mexico. Remember to be safe and have fun rediscovering Rosarito!
To learn more, visit http://www.xploration.com.mx/english/index.html.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Mayor Torres and The Rosarito Police
I would like to go into deeper detail concerning the perception toward corruption of police in the Rosarito Beach area. It is a fact that Mayor Torres has made great improvements regarding the police force in order to fight the war against drugs in the area. Everyday as he makes improvements, he is putting his own life in danger because it has caused him to become a likely target by the drug cartel. He has gone so far as to taking all guns away from the local cops, and had them ballistics tested to see if any of the bullets found innumerous dead guys came from those guns, and even had them take lie detector tests. Mayor Torres has decided to risk his own life to improve and protect the lives of Americans and Mexicans of the area.
Tijuana has begun a vigorous effort to let criminals -- and police, know that criminals in the tourist zone will be caught. Since March, 97 officers have been fired and prosecuted for bribes and corruption, says Gonzalez, the deputy commander. Low pay, as little as $600 a month for a Tijuana officer, feeds corruption, he said. Officers now get a raise every month as the mayor carries out a pledge to double salaries in three years and add hundreds more officers. Salaries could reach up to $1700 a month. In this situation it was only a matter of time before these improvements had to be made and no one said it would be an easy job, but someone's got to do it.
Tijuana has begun a vigorous effort to let criminals -- and police, know that criminals in the tourist zone will be caught. Since March, 97 officers have been fired and prosecuted for bribes and corruption, says Gonzalez, the deputy commander. Low pay, as little as $600 a month for a Tijuana officer, feeds corruption, he said. Officers now get a raise every month as the mayor carries out a pledge to double salaries in three years and add hundreds more officers. Salaries could reach up to $1700 a month. In this situation it was only a matter of time before these improvements had to be made and no one said it would be an easy job, but someone's got to do it.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Perception versus facts: which matters more?
The "Rediscover Rosarito" team has been doing a lot of research regarding all aspects of Rosarito Beach and Tijuana. If there is one thing that we have learned collectively, a theme that has stayed consistent throughout all aspects of our research is that image and perception matter more than facts and statistics.
So what are some perceptions that have enveloped Rosarito Beach, and what are the facts that lay underneath?
Perception: Rosarito Beach is more dangerous than any US city.
Fact: Rosarito Beach has fewer murders than Washington D.C. (the two cities are similar in size) and according to the Baja Insider has 25% less crime than Philadelphia.
Perception: The entire police force of Rosarito Beach is corrupt and the city isn't doing anything about it.
Fact: This couldn't be further from the truth! Mayor Torres recognizes the severity of the image problem and is reaching out to America and Rosarito Beach to let people know that he is taking the problem seriously and is taking action to change things.
Perception: Only Americans are being targeted as victims of crime.
Fact: The huge majority of the crime and drug problems in Rosarito Beach is internal, with Americans being isolated incidents and sometimes caught in the crossfire.
Simply stating the perceptions versus the facts is by no means a magic formula. Yet it is a basis for understanding the groundwork of any public affairs campaign. Before you can create a campaign and set out to change others perceptions, you have to do a huge amount of research, collecting as much information as possible so that you can truly understand the situation yourself.
Hopefully from this you will take a second to consider the facts before you consider the hearsay.
So what are some perceptions that have enveloped Rosarito Beach, and what are the facts that lay underneath?
Perception: Rosarito Beach is more dangerous than any US city.
Fact: Rosarito Beach has fewer murders than Washington D.C. (the two cities are similar in size) and according to the Baja Insider has 25% less crime than Philadelphia.
Perception: The entire police force of Rosarito Beach is corrupt and the city isn't doing anything about it.
Fact: This couldn't be further from the truth! Mayor Torres recognizes the severity of the image problem and is reaching out to America and Rosarito Beach to let people know that he is taking the problem seriously and is taking action to change things.
Perception: Only Americans are being targeted as victims of crime.
Fact: The huge majority of the crime and drug problems in Rosarito Beach is internal, with Americans being isolated incidents and sometimes caught in the crossfire.
Simply stating the perceptions versus the facts is by no means a magic formula. Yet it is a basis for understanding the groundwork of any public affairs campaign. Before you can create a campaign and set out to change others perceptions, you have to do a huge amount of research, collecting as much information as possible so that you can truly understand the situation yourself.
Hopefully from this you will take a second to consider the facts before you consider the hearsay.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
My Rosarito: Rediscovering this beach paradise
News gets around fast these days, effecting markets very quickly. In this world of inter connectivity, hardly anything goes unnoticed. Unfortunately Rosarito Beach in Mexico is no exception. With seemingly constant murders and drug problems, the tourism rate is dropping quicker than you could drink a shot of tequila.
Of course all cities have crime, Las Vegas, Miami, are have high in crime rates in the United States but still have through the roof tourism rates. So the question becomes this-what separates a place like beautiful Rosarito from Miami? The answer is-image. Some would even argue that in Las Vegas and Miama the crime and bad boy scene is part of it's appeal.
So is Rosarito really any more dangerous than any other tropical getaway-probably not, in fact-most likely it's even safer.
Nevertheless Rosarito's entire economy is suffering, especially tourism because of it's rocky internal conflicts. From a public relations/public affairs paradigm Rosarito makes a very interesting and challenging case.
A group of graduate students at Emerson College have decided to take on the challenge of the economy/tourism crisis in Rosarito, and have formed a campaign called "Rediscover Rosarito" to address real estate, community relations, crisis control, image control, government relations and tourism issues within Rosarito. It is from this that "My Rosarito" has formed-the campaign within "Rediscover Rosarito" that is working towards improving the tourism economy in Rosarito.
We will keep you up to date on our creative process and goals, as well as Rosartio news. This will be a challenging and creative project, but we are looking forward to every step of the way.
Of course all cities have crime, Las Vegas, Miami, are have high in crime rates in the United States but still have through the roof tourism rates. So the question becomes this-what separates a place like beautiful Rosarito from Miami? The answer is-image. Some would even argue that in Las Vegas and Miama the crime and bad boy scene is part of it's appeal.
So is Rosarito really any more dangerous than any other tropical getaway-probably not, in fact-most likely it's even safer.
Nevertheless Rosarito's entire economy is suffering, especially tourism because of it's rocky internal conflicts. From a public relations/public affairs paradigm Rosarito makes a very interesting and challenging case.
A group of graduate students at Emerson College have decided to take on the challenge of the economy/tourism crisis in Rosarito, and have formed a campaign called "Rediscover Rosarito" to address real estate, community relations, crisis control, image control, government relations and tourism issues within Rosarito. It is from this that "My Rosarito" has formed-the campaign within "Rediscover Rosarito" that is working towards improving the tourism economy in Rosarito.
We will keep you up to date on our creative process and goals, as well as Rosartio news. This will be a challenging and creative project, but we are looking forward to every step of the way.
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